Canada Unifor union ratifies C$554-million new investment GM deal

The GM logo is seen at the General Motors Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Lansing, Michigan October 26, 2015. Photo taken October 26. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's Unifor union ratified a deal with General Motors Co that will see the auto maker invest C$554 million ($420.84 million) in its local plants, the labor group said on Sunday.

Workers voted 64.7 percent to ratify the agreement, Unifor said in a statement.

The union said earlier in the day the bulk of the GM's investment will go toward the Oshawa and St. Catharines plants in the province of Ontario, which will get C$400 million and C$150 million, respectively.

Unifor, which represents some 4,000 GM workers, reached that deal on Monday just minutes before a strike deadline.

The deal granted some job security but less favorable pensions than before. GM had agreed to renewed investment at its Canadian plants, while the union gave up defined benefits pensions for new hires.

The ratification is expected to affect some 16,000 Unifor workers with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Ford Motor Co, whose contracts also are up for negotiation.

Under a process called patterned bargaining, Unifor's agreement with GM will be used as a template for talks with the other companies, which are expected to agree to similar terms.

Unifor has said it will negotiate next with Fiat Chrysler, and has set a tentative strike deadline of midnight Oct. 10.

(Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by Bill Trott)